The Tundra Wilderness Tour

In actual fact we were prepared (sort of anyway..) for a walking tour. OK, it only means we didn't really find out enough. But the night we arrived, I took at look at the information provided by the tour representative, Paul and found out that we did not need to walk. Instead the Tundra Wilderness Tour was a bus ride.. for 8 hours. Yup, EIGHT hours! Oh goody.. I was wondering how I'd keep an energetic 4-year old entertained in the bus for 8 hours.

After waiting for a while our bus came. It was not those beautiful buses which we saw (and sat on the way to Denali). Instead it's just a normal bus, similar to the one we sat on that morning to see the sled dogs in the park. Our bus driver was Justin and he started off by giving us a little background information on the bus drivers, the tour operators and most importantly about the park. After picking more passengers from another hotel, we headed back to the park.

This tour operator were engaged to run the tours in Denali National Park and the 33 bus drivers had an average of 17 years working in this tour with many of them with a Masters or a PhD! These buses were the only mode of transport allowed into a certain section of the national park. Some people who opt to walk around the park can take the shuttle buses which are non-narrated and they can hop on and off whenever they feel like it.

We were told that the goal for visitors on this tour was to see the "big five" which is the moose, the wolf, the grizzly bear, caribou and Dall sheep.

Before we even reached the park road which is closed to private cars, we spotted them: moose. The bus driver had a handy video camera which was hooked to some TVs around the bus. It was to help those who could not see the animal or had no idea where to start looking to have a look at the animal on the screen. He'd zoom out also so that you'd know which direction the animal was and you'd be able to see the actual thing (instead of on TV).

Then we drove off. As we reached the controlled area (mile 15), we stopped for the park ranger to hop onto the bus and greet us. Then our ride began. Some people spotted the Dall sheep. There were only a few so we didn't spend too much time on them. Justin was confident we'd see more later on, and we did! There were so many we re all trying to count how many there were, not easy since they were really far away. And then.. we spotted them. There were grizzly bears on the other side of the valley.. a mummy bear with 2 babies! What luck!!

We drove on and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and saw eagles moved on and saw lots of Dall sheep. Then we spotted a a caribou and even a moose trying to remove its antlers. The scenery throughout the drive was breathless. And at times we held on to our breath too.. as the bus tries to drive carefully past another bus and not to fall off the very steep cliff!
Our journey was almost complete. But we did not get to see the grey wolf yet. Just as we were stopping at Tolkat River, where the buses were supposed to turn back, Justin asked if we were willing to extend the trip a little and he'd drive us further along the road and hope to see a wolf. We drove and spotted several buses stopped all along and as we pulled pass another bus, Justin checked and the other bus driver said that there was a wolf. We stopped and waited and suddenly the wolf just sprang up by our side.. It was over in a split second as it trotted away from our bus (on the opposite direction).

We continued our journey and came to this sign. It's all damaged because a bear decided to use it as a scratching post! If it weren't for the nails which acted as a deterrent (too painful!) the sign would probably not be there at all.
A little further on there were buses stopped everywhere again. This time there were 3 grizzly bears crossing the road. By the time we got near enough, daddy only managed to get a "bum shot" of 2 of the bears!

We headed off and saw a family of 5 caribou having a drink in the river and soon we got to the point which was designed for buses to turn back. On the way back we saw another grizzly busy eating berries. Then we went off. And we saw it.. the grey wolf. It was ahead of us then disappeared behind some bushes.

Justin quickly drove to where the road which the wolf had taken would join ours. And a few seconds later.. it appeared. Daddy managed to get a beautiful shot of the wolf! Wow.. and now our journey is complete. We saw the "Big 5".
One last little animal we saw was this little Arctic ground squirrel. It had its back to us but just as Justin moved the bus a little and stopped with the squirrel right next to daddy's window, it turned.. just in time for this shot:
We all headed back home satisfied. Dinner was late and we went to this other restaurant "The Overlook Bar and Grill". The food served was good, too bad it was a very limited menu as they were getting ready to close for summer, just like other shops and restaurants. This was the first restaurant which had very little choices as it seems that they close earlier than other restaurants and they also open for the season later than other restaurants.

This was an amazing trip for us all. As for you.. you didn't stay awake through out the 8 hour bus ride, but you did get to see the Big 5 too. So seems like you knew when to wake up and when you can nap! Good timing.